Part 1
Diamonds ARE a girls best friends especially if it is given to her on a bended knee, with a beautiful backdrop and with four little words attched to it…”WILL YOU MARRY ME?”
I was engaged in the early 90s at a very young age. There was no bending of the knee at a beautiful location and no ring… yes your read correctly, NO RING. Being young I didn’t question it. The weekend after, my future husband took me to a jewerler who was going to make my engagement ring. I was so nervous, as I knew what ring I wanted as I had seen it in a magazine and hoped he could create it for me.
We sat patiently with his wife, making small talk. Finally after 10 mins her husband emerged from the back room. He introduced himself to me and asked me to hold out my hand. Opening my hand he carefully placed three small beautiful diamonds into it and they spakled like shiny stars. I was mesmorised by how beautiful these little diamonds were. This when my love affair for diamonds began.
Diamonds are unique. A few factors need to be considered when choosing the right diamond. Dimonds have what they call a grading chart that is proportional to the price of the diamond. The industry standard when grading diamonds are based on the four C’s, Carot Weight, Cut, Colour and Clarity.
Cut:
The cut of the diamond is a personal prefence. The common choice of shapes are illustrated in the above image. The most popular diamonds in the last decade are the round, emerald and cushion shaped diamonds. The round shape dominates 75% of the market. I had chosen the round shape as for me it was a classic shape and timeless.
Carat Weight:
The Carot Weight of a diamond is sold on the unit weight not on the size of the carat which most of us think. The larger the carat the more you will pay. This is because the diamond becomes more rare as the size increases. This is what makes the diamond unique. The above chart illustrates the typical sizing for diamonds.
Colour:
Diamonds come in a variety of colours. They are graded on a scale of D (colourless) through to Z (light colour) The above image shows the grade in the diamond and the yellow tint they have. Most jewellers recommend to aim F/G range because if you put the ring under a constant light, you will be able to see the yellow in the diamond.
Clarity:
Diamonds are formed deep within the earth and under extreme heat and pressure. They all contain small imperfections inside the diamond. The diamonds are graded by their clarity form flawless (extremely rare) to included ( visible to the naked eye). Unless you have millions to spend on a flawless diamond, most people purchase VS1-VS2 or SI1 SI2. The naked eye cannot pick up the slight inclusions. Unless someone is walking around with a mini microscope in their pocket, it is a perfect diamond clarity to choose.
TIPS:
Here are some tips when purchasing the right diamond. Ladies do not be afraid to let you man know what you want. It is your ring and I think you should have a say in it. Just make sure you do not pay for your own ring like I did…. yep I still cannot explain that one.
Do not get hung up on having such a huge carat. Yes we all say it ‘I want over a carat diamond when I get married’. When choosing the carat weight, make sure that the diamond has the correct clarity and colour. This makes the diamond appear larger than what it is.
Do not focus on the imperfection. All diamonds will have slight inculsions unless you are lucky enough to receive a flawless diamond. This is what makes them unique and individual.
The setting of the diamond is just as important. Make sure you choose a reputable jeweller who specialises in setting diamonds.
Lastly, do your homework before you purchase your ring. The last thing you want is to be sitting in bed reading a book while admiring your ring at different angles when suddenly you see a massive crack in it. Yep that also happened to me, but don’t worry I made the jeweller reset my ring with a bigger diamond, better colour and clarity VS1 F. Teaches the jeweller to accuse me of craking it while washing dishes and hitting the diamond on the stainless steel bench. It was obvious that he cracked the diamond while setting the ring hence why you need to pick a reuptable jeweller.
So ladies enjoy this moment of choosing the right ring for you. We are derserve to have the very best.